The Report: Dubai 2014

The emirate posted robust economic expansion across all sectors in 2013, and its resilience in the years following the global economic downturn has helped to re-build confidence among the global business community. Dubai has set itself the target of reaching 20m visitors per year by 2020 and the emirate received a major boost to this end when it won the right to host World Expo 2020 in November 2013.

With the population forecast to grow from 2.16m to 3m by 2020 and 25m attendees expected for Expo 2020, the emirate is focusing on boosting transport options and hospitality offerings. Aviation plays a central role in the transport sector, benefitting from Dubai’s location as a transit hub, while public transport options are increasing as well, with the metro set to increase to more than 422 km by 2030 and a tramline due to begin operations in late 2014. Similarly, growth is expected in the hospitality industry, with the next few years seeing the addition of around 16,000 new hotel rooms. The successful bid for Expo 2020 and the strength of the GCC market as a whole suggest the outlook for Dubai going forward is broadly positive.

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